San Joaquin River Restoration Program Chinook Salmon Trap and Transport

A primary goal of the San Joaquin River Restoration Program is to restore a self-sustaining population of Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha).  Current in-river obstacles do not permit migration to and from the Pacific Ocean to support salmon anadromy.  In an effort to circumvent migration obstacles, a fall adult and spring juvenile trap and transport program has been ongoing since 2013.  Adult fall-run Chinook salmon were translocated from the furthermost downstream section of the Restoration Area near the Merced-San Joaquin River confluence to below Friant Dam.  In 2014, five hundred and ten adult Chinook salmon were captured and transported upriver, 124 river miles to suitable spawning habitat, where they produced > 80 redds.  Fifty-two adult females were tagged with intragastrically-implanted acoustic transmitters to determine spawning locations and movements.  The following spring, a juvenile salmon trap and transport effort was performed to capture emigrating offspring.  Juveniles were relocated to adult capture locations where ocean migration is possible.  Low water conditions and temperatures exceeding salmon thermal tolerance resulted in the need to implement a salvage operation during the 2014 and 2015 Critical Low water years.  This project maintains compliance for Reclamation under the settlement of NRDC et al. vs. Rodgers et al., 2006.